A Modern Miscellany: Shanghai Cartoon Artists, Shao Xunmei's Circle and the Travels of Jack Chen, 1926-1938 (Ideas, History, and Modern China, 12)

In__A Modern Miscellany: Shanghai Cartoon Artists, Shao Xunmei s Circle and the Travels of Jack Chen, 1926-1938__Paul Bevan explores how the cartoon__(manhua)__emerged from its place in the Chinese modern art world to become a propaganda tool in the hands of left-wing artists. The artists involved in what was largely a transcultural phenomenon were an eclectic group working in the areas of fashion and commercial art and design. The book demonstrates that during the build up to all-out war the cartoon was not only important in the sphere of Shanghai popular culture in the eyes of the publishers and readers of pictorial magazines but that it occupied a central place in the primary discourse of Chinese modern art history." Contents 6 Acknowledgements 10 Note on the Illustrations 13 Notes on Romanization and References 18 Note on Sources 19 Introduction 22 A Modern Miscellany 22 The Cartoon as Part of the Modern Art Scene in Shanghai 28 The Manhuahui 32 Part 1 The Beginnings of the Modern Chinese Cartoon 36 Chapter 1 Manhua Artists in Shanghai 38 Marc Chadourne and Paul Morand 41 Vanity Fair 46 Western Models of Art and Literature in Shanghai manhua 50 English Decadence in Shanghai 54 The Modern and the Decadent—The Cubist Shanghai Life, Lust, and Snake and Woman 58 Conclusion 71 Chapter 2 Shao Xunmei and his Circle 74 Shao Xunmei and Pictorial Magazines 74 Shao Xunmei and Salon Culture 81 The Yunshang Fashion Company 92 The Zhang Brothers—Designers 101 A Depiction of Shao Xunmei by Wang Zimei 106 A Letter to Emily Hahn 111 Part 2 Adoption of Foreign Models in Art and Literature 114 Chapter 3 Miguel Covarrubias 116 Covarrubias Goes to China: 1930 121 Covarrubias Goes to China Again: 1933 125 Covarrubias’s Illustrations to Chine (China) 136 Chinese Artists and the Covarrubias Style 138 “Impossible Interviews” 143 Large-scale Group Caricatures 146 Ding Cong and the Mexican Muralists 147 The Legacy of Covarrubias 154 Chapter 4 The Chinese Cartoonists and George Grosz 156 The Art of George Grosz in Shanghai 156 George Grosz and China 164 Proponents of the “Grosz-style” 165 A Foreigner’s View of the Grosz Imitators 171 Cai Ruohong: China’s “New Grosz”? 173 The Chinese View of Grosz’s Work 177 Conclusion 186 Part 3 The Dissemination of Chinese Political Art 188 Chapter 5 Jack Chen in China 190 Chen Arrives in Shanghai 192 The Cartoons of Jack Chen in Shanghai 196 Chen and Soviet Socialist Realism 200 The Letters of Jack Chen 213 From China to Moscow and London: The Beginnings of Chen’s World Tour 223 Anthony Blunt: A Champion of Chen’s Cause 225 Chapter 6 The First National Cartoon Exhibition 235 Suitable Venue: The Sun Company Building 236 The Exhibition 241 News in the Shanghai Press 242 Jack Chen: The Only Foreign Exhibitor 245 Portraiture: A Genre for Political Persuasion? 247 The Paintings of Hua Lu: Lacking a Political Message? 251 Surrealism: Modern Art and the Manhua Artists 257 Cai Ruohong Remembers 264 Foreigners on Manhua: Two Contrasting Views 267 A Review by Jack Chen 267 An Anonymous Critique 275 Zhang Guangyu’s Cover Design for Manhuajie 283 Manhua: An Art for China’s Future 293 Chapter 7 Chinese Art and its Part in the Worldwide Fight against Fascism 296 Hong Kong: First Port of Call 302 Guangzhou: Caught in the Air Raids 307 Chen is Sent to Europe and America 310 Hu Kao: A Shanghai Cartoonist 314 Hu Kao and Jack Chen go to Yan’an 324 Epilogue 334 Conclusion 348 Bibliography 358 Index 394 In A Modern Miscellany: Shanghai Cartoon Artists, Shao Xunmei s Circle and the Travels of Jack Chen, 1926-1938 Paul Bevan explores how the cartoon (manhua) emerged from its place in the Chinese modern art world to become a propaganda tool in the hands of left-wing artists. The artists involved in what was largely a transcultural phenomenon were an eclectic group working in the areas of fashion and commercial art and design. The book demonstrates that during the build up to all-out war the cartoon was not only important in the sphere of Shanghai popular culture in the eyes of the publishers and readers of pictorial magazines but that it occupied a central place in the primary discourse of Chinese modern art history."